Forgotten Memories
by entrance-to-neverland
Summary: AU: Killian had always fancied Emma and watched her from afar for at least a moment each day. One day, he ran into her- literally, and that was the start of a great friendship. It was great until he disappeared one day, leaving Emma to wonder his whereabouts each and every day.


**A (sucky) fic for Sonera (onceuponapainting│tumblr) bc its her birthdayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. **

* * *

He was under the body of a dead person, and while waiting for the princesses he was supposed to earn trust from, he wondered his motives. Why did he really want revenge on Rumpelstiltskin? Sure, he killed Milah, but that was over 300 years ago, what was the point now. She was gone.

"There's someone under here. He's alive," a feminine voice snapped him back to reality and he shook the thought of giving up his revenge away.

"Please," he pleaded in the most desperate tone he could.

"It's okay," the brunette reassured. She was wearing what seemed like princess clothes, clothes not fit for an adventure in the forest.

"It's okay, you're safe now. We won't hurt you," a woman with short hair and clothes that he had never seen before assured him.

Killian let his eyes wander to the rest of the other women there- a warrior and a blonde. One look in her eyes and he was taken aback. The blonde's green eyes were so familiar yet not. How could it be? Why was it familiar?

"Thank you, thank you," he said unconsciously, his eyes not leaving the bright green ones.

* * *

The little boy, no more that eleven stuffed his pockets and mouth with bread. He felt a gentle breeze behind him and slowly, Killian turned. It was the owner of the shop, looking as cross as ever, with his hands on his hips.

"So you're the one stealing all that bread," the old man spit out, his eyebrows furrowed. Killian chewed on the bread quietly, staring straight into the store owner's eyes. He finished his bread and made a run for it.

"Hey!" the man shouted, "run away! Thief! Get him!" But no one listed to him, not a single soul. Killian ran around the building, dodging people and taking sudden turns to lose the old man, which shouldn't be so hard unless he got security. He ran out the building and into an old shack that no one had even glanced at for over a second, he was safe. He was free, at least for now.

The day before had been a blur to him, he was running from some store owner after being caught, nothing important, nothing significant. He jumped out of the pile of blankets he had slept in for a few years since his father had abandoned him; his mother was out of the picture for a while now.

The dark haired boy grabbed a piece of bread and ran to the school only a few minutes away from the shack. He hid behind the bush outside the fence and watched the girl he liked since he laid eyes on her. She had short, blonde hair and today she wore a black beanie on her head and black tee and coat. He would have gone and introduced himself, if he was still in school anyways. But since he didn't have anyone, since he was alone, he couldn't go to school. Not like this anyways.

She was hanging out with her friends and he watched her laugh and make silly faces, that would brighten up his day instantly. After a few minutes, the bell rang and everyone left the playground, leaving Killian to stare at nothing. He left his place in the bush with a small smile dancing on his lips and walked to the mall like he did every day.

He had been in the building for a while now, and he had not been caught, well not until he heard someone clear their throat. Slowly, he turned to see the old shop owner that caught him yesterday. Nope, this was not good.

He ran as fast as he could without stopping and turned sharply every so often, finally he slowed down and looked back as he turned the final corner. He had totally lost him. He turned his attention back to the front where he was going to run straight into someone. Killian held his hands out and tried to stop, but that didn't work so well.

"Oh my god!" the girl said- and it wasn't just any girl. It was the one he had been watching for years. "I'm so sorry!"

"D-Don't be," he stuttered, looking around. "It's not your fault."

"Are you lost?" she asked, concern etched on her eyebrow.

"No, I'm not lost. I was just running from someone and I am so sorry that I ran into you and-"

"Slow down," she instructed, putting her hands on his shoulders, "breathe."

He bit his lip and nodded slowly, inhaling and exhaling. "Better?" the blonde asked and he nodded.

"Emma," she introduced herself, "Emma Swan."

"I'm Killian," he replied, giving her a small smile.

He walked away after a small wave and smile, but his heart was racing, and not because he was running. No, it was because he ran into the girl he fancied. Literally ran into her. His mind was racing, 'does she like me?' 'does she think I'm weird?' 'does she think I'm completely mad?'.

"You going somewhere?" she ran after him and stopped at his side.

"No, not at all. Just around," he replied, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Oh," was all she said and they walked around in complete silence. It was awkward, well, for him anyways. He was talking to the girl he fancied and literally ran into. His brain was still processing all of this.

After a couple of minutes, Emma decided to strike up a conversation, "so where's your family?"

"I-" if there was one thing Killian wasn't expecting, it was that question. "They're gone," he paused, "my parents abandoned me."

"Mine did too," she responded and he looked at her in shock. "I'm living with my grandmother," she continued, looking straight ahead, her eyes watering a little bit. What she did next surprised him, whether she did it consciously or unconsciously. Emma's hand slid into his and they walked around the building hand in hand.

Killian didn't know if they were considered friends yet, but they were to him. About two months, give or take, passed since they first ran into each other. The two of them met on the outside of the mall and walked around the streets, hands shoved in their pockets for it was slightly snowing and the wind was picking up.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Emma asked as they walked over the snowy bridge and around the small town.

"A pirate!" the blue eyed boy replied enthusiastically.

"A pirate?" Emma was certainly surprised, "and why a pirate must I ask?"

"You see, I want to be a pirate!"

"I know," she crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.

"Let me finish," Killian continued, "I want to go on adventures and sail far away and into the horizon."

"Sailing and adventures? You can have that without being a pirate you know," Emma retorted.

"I know, but being a pirate sounds cool, don't you think?" he shrugged. "Don't judge me," Killian added after seeing her reaction.

"I'm sorry, I just-" Emma stopped mid sentence and burst out laughing.

"W-What's so funny?" he demanded. "Emma, tell me!"

"I dunno," she admitted, "it's just funny."

"Well, ha ha, it is funny," he said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "What about you? What do you want to be?"

"I don't know really," the blonde admitted, "never really thought about it."

The two of them made their way to the clock tower and climbed through the inside and a few minutes later, they were staring out at the city. It was nightfall by then, so it was either the climb took longer than they thought, or they lost track of time. The two of them stared out into the city, making brief comments every so often and sharing a joke every now and then.

"Umm," Killian turned too seem Emma biting her lip. "If you go, will you forget me?" she asked hesitantly.

"I wouldn't forget you Emma. Not ever," Killian replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and it was! There would be no way in hell would he ever forget her.

"Good," was all she said, a smile forming on her lips as she pulled him into a hug.

"If I do, then then the impossible has happened," he whispered in her ear and she pulled him in tighter.

Emma ran out of her room after grabbing her scarf and to the place where they always met. In the clocktower. "Killian, Killian, you'd never guess what happ-" she stopped mid sentence because he wasn't there. No, that can't be right. She ran out the tower and to the shack, it was empty too. Where would he be?

Emma searched everywhere for him, but he was nowhere to be found. She looked from the places that they had been before and the places that seemed least likely, but nothing. Nothing at all. He was gone, just like that.

One month. It had been A MONTH, and Emma looked around for him after school each day. Checking their clocktower and anywhere else he might be. That was the day she gave up. He was gone, and there was nothing she could do about he. He wasn't coming back. She stared out the window for a while and she saw a sign of movement.

"Killian?" Emma didn't know why she said that, but she did, her eyes full of hope. As fast as she can, she grabbed her coat and ran out the door. "I'm seeing things again, aren't I?" she mumbled quietly when she saw nothing. Wordlessly, she made her way back into her room and buried her head into her pillow. She was never going to see him again, was she?

* * *

Killian snapped back to reality just in time until the blonde handed him a cup of water. She was familiar to him in a way, maybe because she was a lost girl. He could see it in her eyes, all those years of abandonment, stowed away deep deep in her memories, but they were still there. And they were still visible.


End file.
